Annual Research Awards

Applications For New Research Funds 2019

The Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) is an independent and self-supporting UK based international learned society concerned to advance understanding of higher education, especially through the insights, perspectives and knowledge offered by systematic research and scholarship.

As part of the Society's programme of strategic initiatives aimed at sustaining research into higher education, the Society is offering a series of annual research awards. These awards are funded entirely by the Society, and intended to support new research into higher education.

The Society is offering:

£10,000 member awards for research focused on any aspect of higher education submitted under three overarching themes: Higher Education Policy, Higher Education and Society, and Higher Education Practice.

These Awards are only open to individual members of the Society at the date of application and thus are part of the benefits of membership. Where a proposal is submitted by a research group or team, the lead proposer must be an individual member of the Society. For information about joining the Society, visit

Scoping awards annually of £5,000 each for the exploration of any new or emerging area of higher education research leading to the development of a plan for further research.

These awards are open to all and applications are welcome from members and non members of the Society. Apply using the on-line form below.

Applications open on 1st July 2019 and close at midnight on 1st September 2019.

Further Information

Please read guidance notes before completing and submitting an application for funding. Please note that these awards are not available to support study towards a postgraduate qualification or to support research work intended as the basis for a PhD submission. Research proposals submitted for these awards must demonstrate that they relate to different research questions than those covered by a PhD, or equivalent, if this is yet to be awarded or completed.

Current SRHE Governing Council members, SRHE Standing Committee members, and previous award winners in the last 3 years (2015, 2016, or 2017) are not eligible to apply for these awards, either as a main or a joint applicant.

With regard to the re-submission of proposals submitted in previous years, only one re-submission is permitted which should carefully take account of any feedback provided.

Referees for these awards should also not be applicants themselves, nor be currently serving members of the SRHE Governing Council/Standing Committees.

Note also that these awards are intended to cover the direct costs of the research proposed, so we recommend that budgets should not include full Economic Costing (fEC), indirect, or overheads/estate costs.

Completed reports from previous award winners are available here Reports: SRHE funded projects. Previous award winners should not re-apply for these awards for a period of 3 years. We aim to advise all applicants as to the outcome of their submission by December 1st 2019.

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